Ranil says youth enthusiasm and creativity augur well for the future of industry

By Charumini de Silva

A team of 10 young creative personnel has been selected to represent Sri Lanka at the annual Young Spikes 2017 and Cheil Young Creative Academy at Spikes Asia 2017 next week in Singapore.

The team includes eight outstanding young professionals from Sri Lanka’s advertising industry and two students to represent the country from 27 to 30 September at the annual Young Spikes 2017 and Cheil Young Creative Academy at Spikes Asia 2017 at the Suntec City, Singapore.

These 10 youngsters walked away with key honours at the local competition; conducted in Colombo under the auspices of Metal Factor in partnership with the industry, where a high standard of competition from the industry was witnessed.

The Young Spikes Digital Competition was won by Shashie Kapugamage and Johanns Rogers from Neo@Ogilvy Sri Lanka, whose brief was for the ‘Monetisation of Air Pollution’. In the Integrated competition section, Chanaka Herath and Nonim Dayarathne from Geometry Global, delivered a winning campaign in response to a brief titled ‘Whistleblowers and Protesters’.

The Media Competition had two minimum teams comprising Sachintha Gunawardena and Jenith Liyanagoda from Ogilvy Media and Sarah Hassanally and Dilendri Wettewe from Leo Burnett Sri Lanka who responded to the brief on the topic of ‘LGBT-Q’.

The placements to the Cheil Young Creative Academy were secured by Dulaj Perera from the University of Moratuwa, Faculty of Design and Tuan Meedin from the Academy of Multimedia Design and Technology (AMDT). These two young students will have the opportunity to attend the Young Creative Academy, which is an in-depth training program that is made available to a small selection of students from the region.

The three-day program provides students with the opportunity to attend exclusive seminars and tutorials, where they can learn from top industry professionals and gain valuable international exposure.

Sri Lankan Representative for the Spikes Asia Festival Ranil de Silva said it was encouraging to see the overwhelming response they received from young dynamic professionals in the industry to participate in the local competition.

“It gives me great satisfaction to see the energy of a young dynamic team representing different agencies in the industry. Their enthusiasm and creativity augurs well for the future of the industry. All agencies coming together annually show the momentum of our industry,” he stated.

Noting that Sri Lanka is very much recognised for its work he stressed it was important for to bag a few gold for the country. “We must now punch above our way. What we really need is a big win. Then the rest of the world will look at us.”

He also congratulated MSL Group Sri Lanka Director Caryll Van Dort as she was chosen as a juror for PR category for Spikes Asia 2017 and is the only Sri Lankan this year.

“Spikes Asia is a great place for learning and inspiration. Winning local competition was just the beginning of your journey. Go there with absolute determination to win big. I am confident that you all will excel at the Young Spikes Asia Competitions and bring recognition for Sri Lanka,” de Silva added.

A total of 122 young professionals competed in the local competition and were issued briefs to which they had to respond within 12 hours. The ‘Monetisation of Air Pollution’ brief required the digital winners to devise a campaign that would empower people to monetise their efforts at combating air pollution. The team had to develop a digital eco system using all the available digital tools.

In the Integrated Competition, the teams had to deliver a fully integrated campaign to encourage whistle blowing and peaceful protests, to combat corrupt politicians and public officials as their focus. In essence, the whistleblowers would uncover corruption and if justice is not served, the public will demand action. They were tasked with tackling both aspects of motivating local heroes to become whistleblowers and the general public to take to the streets in the cause of justice.

The Media teams worked on a campaign on the topic of ‘LGBT-Q’ in order to attract youth to be a part of a campaign that ends discrimination towards the LGBT community.

The local competition was facilitated by Metal Factor for the ninth consecutive year. Metal Factor is a personal initiative spearheaded by Ranil de Silva to give back to the marketing communications industry. Metal Factors objective is to help Sri Lanka’s advertising industry realise its ambition of achieving world-class standards and to gain global recognition for the work of the industry.

Metal Factor has been responsible for many programs that benefit the industry, very specially the youth. Metal Factor has played a crucial role in developing the next generation of creative leaders, and continuously organises competitions to select promising young advertising professionals to represent the country at the world’s most prestigious festivals.

The Spikes Asia Festival is the region’s oldest and most prestigious event that recognises the best work in the categories of Film, Print, Outdoor, Radio, Digital, Direct, Promo and Activations, Media, Design, Poster, Craft, Integrated, Mobile and PR. A collaboration between the organisers of the Cannes Lions Festival and Haymarket, the Spikes Asia Festival provides the region’s rapidly growing creative and advertising industry with an opportunity to network, exchange ideas and think creatively.

The festival serves as an important platform, which not only recognises the best work in the region, but also brings together Asia Pacific’s leading creative thinkers and brightest young professionals.

Pix by Ruwan Walpola

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